The Dangers of Fever
Certain symptoms appear when the body can no longer tolerate the intense activity it is housing. It is at this point that fever stops being beneficial and becomes harmful. Allowing the fever to follow its course is no longer a reasonable solution; energetic intervention is called for in order to temper it. (Specific techniques for manipulating fever are explained in part 2, “Controlling Fever.”)
Two principal symptoms provide this alert: the fever is either too high or it is lasting for too long a period of time.
The ability of each individual’s body to handle high temperatures can vary greatly. Some people feel they have reached the end of their rope with a temperature half a degree over 100°F and others not until 104°F. It is therefore difficult to provide a precise figure for “overly high.”
Generally speaking, however, we can say that starting at around 102°F the fever is strong and might require intervention to be brought down to a temperature that is less taxing on the patient’s resources. The higher the temperature goes beyond this limit, the greater the necessity to moderate it will be.
Any efforts toward lowering a fever should not aim to halt the fever completely but only to reduce its intensity. Totally eliminating a fever amounts to halting all of the body’s defensive processes. Fever can be controlled, which is to say it can be allowed to pursue its activities of combustion but at a rate that is more modest than what had been the case; in other words, at a rhythm more compatible with what the patient is capable of tolerating.
Natural medicine has a number of effective methods at its disposal for lowering fever. Because these methods allow the fever to pursue its course, the fever will climb back up again but generally to lesser temperatures than the highs it formerly reached. During the time the fever was more moderate, the patient was able to recover his strength. This momentary respite helps the individual withstand a new intensification of the fever, which is necessary to effectively fight the infection and cleanse the biological terrain.
However high it climbs, the temperature of the new fever spike can also be brought back down to manageable levels again by repeating the techniques initially used. The fever will therefore alternate between periods of intense activity and periods of rest, which permits the patient to allow his fever to continue but at a pace he finds more tolerable.
FEVER WITHOUT REMISSION
Sometimes a fever is not necessarily too high but it lasts for an overly long period of time. Instead of going back down once its peak has been reached and giving way to the copious eliminations that need to take place in the third phase of fever, some fevers are unrelenting and continue burning. The individual will become exhausted and no longer be able to support the effort demanded of the body to complete the cure.
When has a fever gone on for too long? It is difficult to give a hard and fast time limit, as here, too, the tolerance threshold will vary from one individual to the next. Several days will be too long for some people, several hours will tax others beyond their capacity. Furthermore, how high the temperature climbs is a significant factor in what can be tolerated. A person’s appearance (clearness of the eyes), the way he feels (clarity of thought), strength levels (exhausted or not), and so forth, are all valuable signals for judging the situation.
While high temperatures are difficult to tolerate, lower grade fevers on a plateau can be equally exhausting. In this latter case, the uncomfortable period lasts longer because the fever does not manage to mature enough to get out of the second stage and trigger the final eliminatory phase.
In this situation, the body is like a smoldering volcano. The coction is taking place but it does not culminate with a liberating explosion, which, in fever, is signaled by copious sweating and eliminations. The entire body is under pressure, toxins are rising from the depths of the tissues, the bloodstream is overloaded with wastes, but they are not expelled from the body. The patient obviously feels terrible and is expending a lot of energy without achieving any result. It is imperative to give assistance to the body at this time so the situation can evolve properly as nature intended. The techniques used in this specific case do not aim at lowering the temperature of the body. To the contrary, more heat (but in moderation) must be supplied to help the fever mature. Additional heat triggers perspiration, which finally gives the overload of toxins a means to exit the body. The other excretory organs will also be triggered to eliminate these poisons.
There are some additional symptoms that indicate that the patient is overtaxed by fever and swift intervention is called for.
Intense Pain
When the nerve endings in a specific tissue or organ are stimulated too strongly or too intensely, pain will result. This occurs in a number of infections. The numerous microbes and poisons irritate the nerves and tissues, which then become inflamed and painful. One such example would be the painful bronchia of a person suffering from bronchitis.
It is normal for some pain to be felt during an infection. What is not normal is when the pain becomes sharp and persistent. This is a sign that the infectious pocket is attacking the tissues involved too strongly. An additional factor here is the heat of the fever itself, which constitutes another assault on the inflamed tissues, in the same way hot water on a wound is more painful than exposure to lukewarm water.
Spasms
When the body temperature becomes too high, the functioning of the nervous system is upset causing a disruption in the transmission of nerve signals. These distorted signals can cause spasms, in other words, sudden and violent involuntary muscle contractions. Muscles that are stimulated in this way remain stuck in a contracted state. This situation generally is not long-lasting, but it is still not a pleasant experience. It is a sign that the body is having difficulty tolerating the high temperature of the fever and it is necessary to bring it down.
Delirium
The situation just described concerning the motor nerves is also true for the sensory nerves and the brain. Overheating the neurons of the brain distorts perceptions and disrupts thinking ability. The result is a state of mental confusion, with visual and auditory hallucinations. Thoughts and words may appear to be completely absent of any common sense. Because the patient’s motor nerves will also be overstimulated by the high temperature, movements will be disorganized and spasmodic. This unrest should be dealt with quickly by lowering the body temperature.
Fierce Headaches
The headaches that occur during fevers are caused by congestion of the blood vessels that carry the blood through the skull. The heat has a vasodilatory effect. Because they are filled with more blood than normal, the vessels exert an unaccustomed pressure on the surrounding tissues and nerves, which is only aggravated by the fact that these tissues are also themselves dilated by the heat. The pain that results from this congested state can be relieved by applying cold to the body either locally or generally and bringing the patient’s temperature down.
Signs That It Is Necessary to Lower a Fever
• When the temperature is too high, starting at about 102°F
• When the fever has no remission
• In the event of intense pain
• In the event of spasms
• In the event of delirium
• In the event of fierce headaches
Summary
By exhausting the patient, fever can become a danger to an individual’s health. Fever should be moderated when the temperature rises too high or it drags on for too long a time.